


That's What Friends Are For

by Kittyhawk



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ashley taking care of her best friend, BFFs, Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Pre-ME2, TLR 'verse, Virmire went differently, post-Alchera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23364115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyhawk/pseuds/Kittyhawk
Summary: A year after Alchera, Kaidan struggles with downtime after Nick's death and the destruction of the Normandy. Lucky for him Ashley is determined to keep her best friend busy.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko & Ashley Williams
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	That's What Friends Are For

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this ages ago for Kaidan Week on Tumblr but for some reason never posted it here. Better late than never, right? Yeah, that's what I thought.

The rise and fall of voices engulfed Kaidan as he stared absently at the beer in front of him. **  
**

_Shore leave._

God, he used to welcome it, especially after a long tour, but now? Now it held wistful memories of a bright smile and shared laughter, of passionate kisses and soft skin under his fingers; memories of what he had lost just over a year ago. Alchera had changed everything.

He swallowed. Better not follow that line of thought. All it brought was memories of the Normandy going down. The smell of electrical fires and burning flesh, scared faces of crew members trying to get to the escape pods, Shepard ordering him to go.

Finding the last escape pod with only Joker inside, sobbing, repeating he was sorry.

No, he really shouldn’t let his mind go there.

He picked up the bottle and took a swig.

“C’mon, Kaidan,” Ashley let herself fall onto the empty bar stool next to him with an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t drag you out of the apartment so you could sit at the bar moping into your beer. At least play a game of pool.”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead he wiped his thumb slowly over the water condensing on the cold bottle. Glancing to the side he saw Ashley watching him intently. She meant well, he knew that, and deep down he was grateful she was there, even if there were times he wished her to the ass-end of the galaxy. The more he thought about it, the better a game of pool sounded. It certainly beat sitting at home alone drinking himself into oblivion or hitting the gym at ungodly hours; there was no in between, and he knew it. Downtime often left him reeling, but he could always count on his friend to do her best to keep him busy.

He drained his beer and stood up.

“ _One_ game,” he said, holding up a finger.

Ashley grinned at him. “Attaboy.”

“Screw you, Williams,” Kaidan muttered, easily catching the cue she tossed him.

“You any good at pool?” she asked as she set up the table.

He watched Ashley make the break and pocket a few balls before missing a shot. His eyes wandered over the table before lining up his first shot.

“I’m not bad at it,” he finally replied, focusing on his next move. “It’s been awhile, though.”

“When was that?”

Kaidan pocketed another ball and circled the table. “The last night on Arcturus before heading out with the SR-1.”

Ashley didn’t respond. He wondered if it had to do with the name hovering unspoken between them. She cleared her throat. “Have you heard from Joker lately?”

Kaidan shook his head. “Nope. It’s been months.”

“Yeah. Same here.”

They continued playing silently. There was something relaxing about playing a game of pool with friends. It gave him something to focus on, and he had to admit he was enjoying himself. The first game went to Ash, and she celebrated just the way he expected her to, by poking fun at him, offering a rematch and ordering another round of drinks. The second he won, but it was close. The third he stepped up his game and cleared the table easily.

Ashley stared at the pool table and blinked. “Wow.” She cleared her throat. “That game just was something else. I should’ve known your _Not bad at it_ was Kaidan-speak for _I’m damn good at it_.”

Kaidan laughed. “Like I said, I’m not bad at it. I played a lot of pool at BAaT.”

He wasn’t going to tell her he’d hustled pool during his time at college; there were some things not even his best friends had to know.

Leaning on her cue, Ashley cast him a look. "You feeling any better?"

Kaidan ran his fingertips over the felt of the pool table and nodded. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "For now I am. Thanks, Ash."

Ashley waved it away. "That's what friends are for, right?"


End file.
